Wednesday, August 27, 2014

1954 Austin A40 Somerset

"Study the lines and luxury, the fittings and refinements of this brilliant Austin A40 Somerset! You'll realise that there is a car that gives you more in motoring pleasure and pride of ownership. And, when you admire its appointments, remember that luxury equipment is standard equipment in the Somerset — you pay nothing extra for it. On the road — the Austin Somerset is a beautiful car to drive . . . feather-light to handle, reliable and restful, speedy but safe . . . with ample space for five and luggage."

Next to all the bigAmericanautomobiles in Cuba, this one from England looks quite cartoonish. Mind you, the tiny Austin A40 was considered a proper mid-size car in postwar Europe. Introduced in 1952, it was a mutton dressed as a lamb, as it was essentially a re-bodied A40 Devon, using the same mechanicals as its postwar predecessor.

With its dated 1,200cc (73 cubic-inch) engine with 52hp, the A40 Somerset wouldn't win (m)any races. When fully loaded, it was clearly underpowered, and overall a lumbering drive. Thus, the owner of our pictured Austin, a retired railway mechanic of Ferrocarriles de Cuba, "upgraded" to a more modern Lada drivetrain years ago. "I had to modify the firewall, as the Lada gearbox wouldn't fit in the place of Austin's original 4-speed caja. But the Lada engine was a revelation. Since then, my Austin became much more lively."

After just two years in production, the tiny A40 Somerset got replaced by the Austin Cambridge. Reportedly, nobody mourned the loss.